The invention relates to a recreational boat, especially a recreational boat made of a composite material such as fiberglass reinforced polystyrene. The boat has a unique forward cockpit near its bow and a novel semi-circular transom at its stern.
It has been known to construct a boat with a forward deck area having a seat across a portion of the aft end of the forward deck in the forward wall of the cabin. However, in these prior art boats, the floor of the forward deck was at the same level as that of side decks leading to it. With the level of the floor of the front deck the same as that of the side decks, any rain or water spray that is collected on the front deck can drain along the side walkways and off the boat. Being on the same level also makes access to the front cockpit relatively easy from the side decks.
Fishing boats in the 20' to 25' range of the "walk around" variety are one example of boats of this type. In these boats the front deck and side decks are all below the level of the gunwale. However, with side walkways depressed to the level of a sunken front cockpit, the amount of interior space below the walk ways or side decks in the cabin area is limited.
In addition, it has been known for some time to provide a boat with a substantially vertically transverse planer transom. For example, the Regal 400 and the Sea Ray 370 have transoms in a substantially vertically transverse plane. This type of transom maximizes the area in the aft cockpit, but is not pleasing in adding to the overall appearance of the boat since the rest of the boat is generally curvilinear. It is also known to have a boat with a V-type bottom as seen in transverse cross section for its running surface. This type of bottom allows the boat to plane, but still have a comfortable ride in rough water.
Moreover, it has been know in the art to provide a boat with a displacement or semi-displacement type hull bottom that does not plane, with a curved or semi-circular transom incorporated into the hull piece of the boat.
Other boats having either front decks or aft transoms include those shown in the following patent documents:
______________________________________ Des. 93,252 Stratton Des. 288,087 Hegg Des. 315,138 Simpkins Des. 219,118 Baker Des. 322,240 Carlson 4,827,862 Enriquez ______________________________________